Second Chance
by Disappearing Boy
Summary: Ten years after that day in detention, Andrew and Allison cross paths again and start reminiscing.


"All right, good practice, guys. Hit the showers," Andrew said to his team.

"See you, coach," some said on their way out of the gym.

Andrew walked to his small office and sighed. It was his first week as head coach of the University of Chicago wrestling squad. And it was clear that the school wasn't known for its athletics. Well, he'd expected that. As he went over the roster for their upcoming meets, he realized that he had to see the athletic director in 10 minutes. The AD wanted to know how he was doing, and he was going to be late.

"Dammit," he muttered. He grabbed his jacket and headed over to the administrative building, which was about 15 minutes away. He hurried there and arrived just as the meeting was supposed to start. Yanking open the door quickly and rushing inside, he bumped into a brunette woman, the papers in her hands falling to the floor.

"Excuse me," he exclaimed, bending down to retrieve everything. "I am so..."

"Jeeze, why don't you watch where you're going?" The woman glared at him.

"Sorry. I'm in a hurry and wasn't paying attention. Are you OK?" he asked as she scrambled to her feet.

"Yeah, I guess," she muttered, dusting herself off. She looked at him and did a double take. "Don't I know you from someplace?"

He looked at her and frowned. "Um... I don't think so."

"Andy. Don't you remember? Shermer High School? Detention?"

After a few seconds, his mouth dropped open. "Allison?"

"Yes," she smiled.

"Wow," he said. "You look really good. You're not wearing any black clothes, so I didn't recognize you."

"Gee, thanks. You don't look so bad yourself, sporto. What are you doing here anyways?"

"I actually coach the wrestling team, just started."

"Really? Never would have guessed," she said.

He smiled. "So what are you doing here?"

"I'm in school," she replied.

"Still? Awesome," he said. "How long has it been since that day, like a decade?"

"Ten years, six months, and a week, give or take a few days."

He laughed. "All right." They looked at each other for a second. "I never thought I'd see you again," he said.

"Same here," she said. "Hey, don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Oh, shit!" he exclaimed, checking his watch. He was already five minutes late. "I gotta go."

"Yeah, I should go, too," she said.

"Listen, you want to meet later or something? We could catch up."

"Really?"

"Sure, if you want."

She nodded. "OK."

"Let's meet in the dining hall for dinner."

"What time?" she asked.

"Hmm. How about in half an hour? 7:00?"

"All right."

"Well, see you then," he said, hurrying off.

Allison stood there and smiled. Then, she went back to her apartment to drop off her paper. As she walked, all she could think about was that one Saturday detention in the high school library. She thought about all the good and bad moments they had shared in those few hours, and she shook her head at herself. Had she actually been that weird? And what about Andrew? They had shared something special, but it was just one moment, really. She had no idea what was supposed to happen now.

Allison got back to her apartment. She checked herself out in her mirror, and on a whim, decided to apply some more makeup and lipstick. Before she could overthink things, she walked over to the dining hall. Getting there a few minutes early, she sat on a bench outside and stared at the ground as she waited.

"Hey." She looked up and Andrew was smiling down at her.

She smiled back tentatively. "Hi."

"You ready?" He offered her his arm, and she took it. They got some of the mediocre cafeteria food and then sat down at a table off to the side, where it wasn't as noisy. Allison didn't get much, but Andrew loaded up his tray with multiple plates and pieces of fruit. She lifted her eyebrows at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"So... how's it going?" he asked.

"Fine," she replied. "Yourself?"

"Good. Started coaching the wrestling team this season. I was running to meet the AD when I bumped into you. Sorry about that."

"It's OK," she said. "You can't imagine how surprised I was."

"I was surprised, too. What are you studying in school?"

"Psych," she said. "I'm trying to become a therapist."

"You don't say? Cool. I never would have expected that. It makes sense, though."

"Why, 'cause I used to have my own problems?"

"That's an understatement," he joked. "So now you want to help other people?"

"Yes. I want to help people, mainly younger people, who are dealing some of the same problems that I had growing up," she said. "I'm a year away from getting my PhD."

"That's great," he said between mouthfuls. "I mean, it's nice that you seem to know what you want. I remember you didn't seem to be too happy back then."

She shrugged. "I think that day in detention helped me get better, somewhat."

"It did?"

"Yeah, you know, talking to you guys. I don't know. It helped."

"Interesting."

"So what have you been up to since then?" she asked.

"After high school, I went to college on a wrestling scholarship, and after I graduated, I was an assistant coach until this season."

"That's nice," she said. "But didn't you say something about how you only wrestled because your dad made you?"

"Well, I guess so. It's tough to get off that path once you start. I didn't know how to do anything else. Still don't."

"You like it?"

"Yes, I do," he said. "You know, I can't believe you actually remembered what I said."

"I remember everything about that day," she replied. "Don't you?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "That was a pretty cool day, wasn't it?"

"It was," she said.

"You ever see any of those guys again?"

"No, I don't think so. You?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I saw them in the hallways once in a while, and I saw Claire at a few parties, but I didn't talk to them much afterwards. Didn't see you at all."

"I never talked to any of them, either," she said. "It's such a shame, because I got to know you all so well. It was probably inevitable, though."

"Yeah. We had our own groups. I think, deep down, we all knew that we wouldn't hang out again."

"Just what do you think the others are doing now?" she asked.

"Who knows? Well, John's probably in prison." They laughed. "Brian is probably like an engineer or scientist, and Claire's probably a saleswoman at a mall."

She nodded. "Makes sense. Gosh, can you believe it's been 10 years?"

"No, I can't."

"I mean, we're old now," she said.

"Eh... not that old. I'm 27, and you're..."

"26," she finished.

"Still, being an adult is annoying," he said.

"Tell me about it. Although I'm glad I got away from my parents, it's tough sometimes."

"And I don't like having responsibilities."

Allison laughed. "Lazy jock." They sat there for awhile. "So are you finished eating yet?"

"I actually think I've had enough for now. Do you have anywhere to be?"

She shook her head. "No."

"You live on campus?"

"No, just off-campus. I have an apartment a few blocks from here. It's not bad. You want to go there and crash for awhile?"

He paused.

"Unless you have other plans."

"No," he said. "Let's go."

They walked to her place mostly in silence, enjoying the cool fall air and each others' company. "Here we are," she said, opening the door. "Make yourself at home."

Andrew looked around. It was a basically a one-room apartment with a bed and a desk off to one side and a small kitchen on the other. Clothes and various items were strewn about everywhere. "Looks cozy," he said.

"Sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting company."

"It's fine," he said. "But are all of these things stolen goods?"

She hit him on the arm. "No, I don't do that anymore." He sat down at the chair by the desk. "You want something to drink?" she asked. "Or should I say, 'What's your poison?'"

He smirked at her. "Do you have any vodka?"

"Seriously?"

"Sure," he said.

"Yeah, I actually have some." Allison dug out a bottle out of the mini-fridge and poured small glasses for both of them. She sat on her bed. "Cheers." They gulped down the cold liquid quickly.

"So," Andrew started, "you obviously live here by yourself. No boyfriend?"

"No, I don't have time for that, with my studies and all..."

"Is that really it?" he asked.

She smiled sheepishly. "OK, it's probably because I can't keep a boyfriend. Guys do ask me out once in a while, but they always bail pretty quickly. Maybe they think I'm weird or something."

"Well, you are!" They laughed.

"How about you?" she asked. "Got a girl?"

"Not at the moment," he replied.

"How could a handsome guy like you not have a girlfriend?"

"I guess I'm taking a break from dating," he said. "Recently got out of a long-term relationship."

"Oh? Was it tough?" she asked.

"Kind of. I dated this girl in college, and after we graduated, we got engaged. I broke it off about a year ago."

"Aw. How come?"

"Just couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't the one for me." He sighed. "I don't know if I should say this, but... I thought about you from time to time."

Allison's heart started racing. "You did?"

"Yeah. We did have something, right?"

"Yes."

"I always wondered what might have been for us," he went on. "Even though I knew that we would probably never meet after that day, I wished we had. You never felt that way, though?"

She looked down. "Of course I did."

"Really?"

"Yes!" she said. "You were the first boy I ever kissed, Andy. Whatever it was that we had, I didn't want it to end." They sat in silence for a few seconds.

"We were pretty dumb, weren't we?"

She nodded. "We were young and stupid, all right."

"And what about now?" he asked. "If you still like me...?"

A slow smile spread across her face. "Hmm. You seem harmless. Do I still meet your standards?"

"Allison, I think you're more beautiful than ever," he said, and he leaned forward and kissed her. It felt so good to let out all of their pent-up desire for each other, and they continued kissing for more than a few minutes.

Finally, they broke apart. "Thanks, Andy," she smiled.

"Anytime," he said. "You know, this is the second day we've spent together, and both times we ended up making out."

"So you're saying I'm easy?"

"Definitely." They laughed.

"I hate to spoil the moment," she said, "but I lied before. I did see you after that day. I used to go to your wrestling meets all the time until you graduated. Just to see you in your tights."

Andrew rolled his eyes. "I didn't wear tights. I wore the required uniform."

"Whatever. All I know is that you looked very, very nice."

"Oh, great," he said. "Why didn't you ever say anything? You could have waved to me from the stands or something. I didn't even know you were there."

"I dunno," she said. "Didn't want to embarrass you."

"All right," he said. "But there's one thing I've always wondered. What did you do with my wrestling patch? The one you took that day?"

She reached over to her nightstand and opened the drawer. After digging around for a few seconds, she pulled out his old patch. "Here it is. I kept it safe for you."

"You stole it from me!"

"Well, it was a part of you that I could keep," she said. "You can have it back, if you want."

He shook his head. "Nah, I was just kidding. It's yours now."

"Thank you," she said, putting it back into the drawer. "So Mr. Clark, how is all this going to work?" she asked, pointing at them both. "Is it going to work?"

Andrew considered for a second. "I have no idea, Miss Reynolds. You're the psychology student. What do you think?"

"I guess we could try dating," she said hopefully.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "Might as well. I mean, I don't have anything else better to do." And he leaned over to kiss her again.

**fin**


End file.
